The international neutron scattering community gathered in Knoxville, Tennessee on May 3 to 7 for the ninth International Conference on Neutron Scattering 2009 (ICNS09). The meeting now takes place every four years, the series beginning in Hakone, Japan in 1982, and making its way through Santa Fe ('85), Grenoble ('88), Oxford ('91), Sendai ('94), Toronto ('97), Munich ('01) and Sydney ('05). The meeting was organized around a broad program of high quality neutron scattering science in the areas of materials science, chemistry, physics, biology and cultural heritage, as well as highlighting advances in neutron scattering facilities and instrumentation. Despite the economic pinch being felt around the world (and unfortunate timing with respect to a possible worldwide H1N1-flu pandemic) there were 660 registrants from 29 countries filling a total of 219 oral presentation slots and 302 posters, put together by the hard working program committee led by Paul Butler, Meigan Aronson and Lee Robertson, and reflecting the health and vibrancy of the international neutron scattering community. The meeting was organized under the auspices of the Neutron Scattering Society of America (NSSA) with local organization handled by the local organizing committee led from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Special events included a tour of the nearby Spallation Neutron Source and High Flux Isotope Reactor facilities and the awarding of the Walter Hälg Prize to Dieter Richter of Research Center, Jülich, Germany. Richter's work focused on understanding the dynamics of polymers and biological macromolecules using high-resolution neutron scattering techniques.